A True Nightmare

“Malaria, mosquitoes,” words that sound of nails against chalkboards to women’s ears as they hold their babies tighter in their arms and flee. As if the words themselves are poisonous. Well, maybe not to Westerners considering with one word we have the army, the government, and advanced technology, but where do the women without this aid go? Nowhere, they have to face the dangers. 1 in 5 children deaths in Africa are due to Malaria. That’s the severity of the situation, something that is stored in the lowest shelf of “need to do’s.” While people ogle over fictitious vampires, zombies, and werewolves, they don’t realize that they are quite real. In a town called Apac, the luring aura of vampires and zombies is turned on its head. The streets are completely bare of life, as stores, drugstores, hospitals, schools rot with the smell of death and sickness. In these streets walk people barely clothed; talking to figures only they can see. All the while, their bodies covered with dry cracked marks, hair disheveled with dirt and sticks, all carrying the mark of malaria. These tiny bloodsuckers intake more blood that would shame Count Dracula. Unfortunately, even though we are well aware of this situation, not much is being done. Although many programs and individuals have stepped forward to provide shields against these tiny monsters, it’s not enough. We will never wake up from this nightmare until we take action together to help put an end to this.

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